Life Goes On
by disquietus
Summary: Set Post-Breaking Dawn. Much to Bella's dismay, Alice has convinced Renesmee that it would be fun to leave their happy home in Alaska and rejoin the world, but what kind of chaos ensues when 10 vampires, 7 werewolves, and a half-vampire try to blend in?
1. Fifty Years Later

**Life Goes On  
**

**Set Post-Breaking Dawn. Just about life with the Cullens.**

**Disclamier: I don't own em. All are property of Stephanie Meyer that genius.**

The waves lapped at my feet as I stared out across the ocean. I wondered idly how long it would take me to swim across it. Probably no more than a day, but I couldn't be sure. I would have to ask Alice how long it had taken her and Jasper all those years ago when the Volturi was coming for us. Had it really only been fifty years? It seemed like only yesterday. We were living in Alaska now. Had been for the last twenty years or so, moving from small town to small town so that Carlisle could satisfy his need to help the less fortunate, and Alice could complain about the lack of shopping, and society in general. I was content to follow Edward. My home was wherever he was.

A pair of arms snaked around my waist and I leaned back into Edward's chest, enjoying the feel of his breath tickling my ear. "Jacob and Nessie will be home in less than a day." he whispered. I smiled. He knew me so well. Even after all this time without any sign of the Volturi, it still made me anxious to have them out of my sight for very long. To have any of my family out of my sight, and the protection of my shield was nearly more than I could bear at times. But Renesmee had wanted to visit the Amazons, and, I suspected, wanted some time alone with Jacob. Not really something I wanted to think about, even after having five decades to come to terms with the fact that my best friend had imprinted on my daughter. It seemed like a lifetime ago that Jacob had been professing his love to me, begging me to choose him. I guess in a way it had been.

"Seth and Embry will be relieved to hear that. They've missed him." Seth and Embry had never imprinted. They'd chosen to continue phasing rather than leave Jake without his pack. Leah was still physically in her twenties, having imprinted on Quil and Claire's son, ironically enough named Sam. Both were still a part of Jacob's pack, and they too had chosen to stay with him for as long as he needed them. Quil was the only member of Jake's pack who was aging, and he was physically nearing his fifties, within years of Claire. "Of course they will. Leah is driving them mad." I laughed at Edwards exaperated tone. Some things would never change. Time, and imprinting, had tamed her attitude and even her distaste for vampires somewhat, but she was still Leah. We would never be close, even though Charlie and Sue had officialy made us step-sisters a few years after I'd been reborn, but she was no longer openly antagonistic.

Charlie had passed on ten years ago, in his seventies and still sticking stubbornly to his "need-to-know-only" view on life with the Cullens. He'd refused to let Renesmee and I be cut out of his life. Even as he'd watched her mature to adulthood in less than a decade, and watched as year after year passed and neithe I nor any of the rest of the Cullens aged, he'd never once asked a single question or given any hint that he suspected the truth. I'm sure he did. Charlie was far from stupid, and he knew the Quileute legends as well as I did, but he was stubborn. Sue had died shortly after my father. Renee was still alive, but Phil had passed on as well. Edward and I had set her up with the best care money could buy, but I could only visit her at night, while she slept. Renee believed that I had died along with Edward and the rest of the Cullens in a tragic plane accident forty years ago. Watching my parents age and die only made me more grateful that I would never have to go through that with the rest of my life. It was one of my greatest reliefs in life that I would always have my family, both vampire and werewolf, with me. Concievably for the rest of eternity. Speaking of family...

"Are Rose and Emmett back yet?" I asked Edward as we ran back towards our house in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. "They returned about half an hour ago. That's why I came to find you. They've brought Garrett and Kate back with them." This news made me happy. It had been months since I'd seen any of our Denali cousins. "Tanya, Eleazar and Carmen are still in Africa then?" I asked. Edward nodded. When we reached the house, mere minutes after leaving the beach, our entire family was gathered inside. A rarity that.

Esme was arranging flowers and talking quietly with Kate about her new re-modeling plans, while Garrett and Emmett discussed their latest wrestling match in detail with Jasper. Rose was playing the piano softly, and I could hear Carlisle flipping through a book up in his office. I could smell the stench of werewolf coming from the kitchen, and could tell from the arguing that Seth and Embry were in there fighting over who got the last piece of pie. They, along with Jake, lived with us. He could never be away from Renesmee and she had no desire to live apart from her family. We had become so accustome to each others own reeking smell that it was just past bearable for us now. Leah and her Sam shared a house with Quil and Claire as far away from us as Jake would allow. It was only a couple minutes run away, but it would take two hours to drive there for a human, not that any human would be insane enough to travel that far off the main highway.

Alice, who had been sitting on the stairs glancing through a catalog of some sort, flitted over to my side and beamed up at me, which instantly made me suspicious. "What are you planning?" I asked her and watched her eyes narrow at the suspicion in my voice. Emmett and Jacob laughed at me about it, but as far as I was concerned, Alice was the most terrifying of us all by far. Jasper, Edward, Rose and Renesmee understood of course. They'd all been on the wrong end of one of her schemes at one point or another. Me more than any of the others. She had forced me through prom, at least three times now, not to mention my over-the-top graduation party, even more over-the-top wedding (which I stubbornly refused to thank her for), not to mention the french lingerie and year after year of horrific birthday partys and wardrobe re-hauls. I'd taken to having my daughter hide the clothes I truly loved, just so Alice couldn't find them and replace them with ones that were more up to her own standards.

As much as I loved here, there were times when I would have been perfectly content to rip her apart and dance around the pyre of her burning limbs. Like after my last disastrous birthday party, when the entire family, including our daughter and all the wolves, had walked in on Edward and I taking advantage of the empty house. It had been 10 years and Emmett was still cracking jokes about it.

"You're going to say yes." she beamed at me, eyes twinkling. She linked her arms through mine and I sighed. Sometimes I wondered if she didn't just tell us that she would win, so that we would go along with whatever it was she had planned without argument. "And what exactly is it that I'm agreeing to?" I asked weakly. She handed me the catalog she had been looking at. "We're going back to school." she said brightly.


	2. Some Things Never Change

**Some Things Never Change**

**DC-I Don't Own Em. All are still the property of the lovely Stephanie Meyer**

"School." I replied weakly. "But...why?"

In my fifty years as a vampire we had only gone through the high school/college facade once, and that had been for Renesmee's benefit. Actually, to be honest, it had been for Edward and Jacob's benefit, since they had both wanted her to have at least once normal human experience. It had only been the four of us, plus Alice, since Rose and Emmett had conviently chosen that time to go on a second honeymoon, and Jasper had outright refused. It had helped his argument that we had all agreed that sending five inhumanely beautiful couples, at least four of which could barely pass for teenagers, to a public high school while passing them all off as adoptees of a couple barely in their thirties would have been a little beyond the believable. So Rose and Em had gone off to presumable destroy more houses, while Jasper had stayed out of sight.

College hadn't been so bad. I'd actually enjoyed our time at Washington State. It hadn't hurt that we'd been able to attend while still living in Forks, since we could all easily run to and from campus in less than an hour. We also hadn't been so conspicuos on a large campus. But high school. High school had benn hell. After going through it just once as a vampire, I couldn't understand how Edward, Rose, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice had done so over and over again. How Alice could presumably enjoy it. It was beyond ridiculous.

"I'm bored. I'm sick of Alaska and snow. I want to be somewhere where there is something resembling life." She said, almost growling. Besides Nessie, and Carlisle, or course, Alice was the only one of us who was ever truly comfortable being around humans. Maybe because she couldn't remember being one, and simply looked at them as a seperate, alien, species, which fascinated her, and which she wanted to study. "I understand that. But why must all of us suffer? You and Jasper could go on a second honeymoon. Go to Europe. Anywhere. We don't need to go to school for you to satisfy your need to shop." Alice scowled at that. "You owe me. After the way I let you ruin Nessie and Jacobs wedding..." her voice trailed off as my eyes narrowed and a hiss exaped my teeth. If anything she owed me. Nessie and Jake would have ripped her apart if I'd allowed her to turn their wedding into the circus event she'd had planned. Nessie had made a lot of friends, and all had come for the wedding. With that many guests she had wanted to keep the ceremony and reception as simple as possible. But Alice...well Alice was Alice, and I had stepped in before she could turn it into even more of a production that my wedding to Edward had been. It was the only time in my existence that I'd won an argument with Alice. I was still rather proud of myself.

"Or not." she backtracked. "Nevertheless, this town in New England is absolutely perfect. It's the second rainiest place in the United States. On average there are only around 42 sunny days a year." She sounded like a brochure and I sighed. I was also sick of Alaska. But I didn't believe that living as teenagers was the answer to that. And it wasn't as if anything had changed in the last forty or so years since the last time we'd been in school. All together we were still too large a group not to draw some speculation. I voiced this thought and Alice laughed it off. "I've already considered that of course. Kate and Garrett will stay with us for a time, as Carlisles sister and brother-in-law. Rosalie, Jasper, Nessie and Edward will be Garrett's nieces and nephews, the children of his much older brother, who were orphaned by a fire six years ago. You, Emmett, and I will be Esme's second cousins, adopted when our parents died in a plane crash while we were still children. They adopted Jacob five years later." I sighed again. She had obviously been planning this for a while, if she'd got Kate and Garrett involved. Or maybe she had just come up with it today and took advantage of their convient visit. Which she would have saw coming. The devious ways in which her mind worked never failed to amaze me. Or infuriate. Her cover story was just complicated enough that no human would bother looking past the surface. I quickly searched my mind for another solution. And then I remembered Jake.

Jake would never go for it. He was still very much a human teenager in some ways, and going through high school again was something he would never consent to. And Alice couldn't see Jake, so even if she had seen me agreeing to this insanity, it didn't mean she had seen us going. I smiled. "Alright" I said in my singing voice. "I'm game. As long as Jake and Nessie agree." Her smile transformed into a scowl faster than a human could blink. I could hear Edward, Rose and Jasper attempting to muffle their relieved laughter. Obviously they no more desire than I to go through the motions of humanity. Maybe in another fifty years or so we'd be bored enough to go along with this.

'That was cruel, Bella. Now I can't see anything at all." she let go of my arm and danced over towards Jasper, taking his hand. "Let's hunt. I need to kill something." They were out the door in the blink of an eye and I hear Rose's whispered "thank you" over the sound of her playing as Edward strode towards me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "You are truly brilliant. We've been trying to figure a way out of this all day." he told me. I kissed his cheek. "of course I am" I agreed, and then walked, at human speed, toward Esme and Kate. I embraced my cousin and smiled happily at her. "I'm so glad you're here. I've missed you." She smiled back at me and kissed my cheek in greeting. I heard a growl from where Garrett stood, still arguing with Emmett. "What about me?" he asked. I laughed lightly and bounded over to him, pulling him into a hug that would have crushed a human. "I missed you too, of course!" I laughed again, "Now I have someone to beat on other than Jasper and Emmett."

Emmett was still teaching me how to fight. I refused to be unprepared should the Volturi come for us again. Of course I realized that it was more of when they came than if they came. We had united against them with other vampires and walked away alive. They would come for us again. As soon as Aro found a way around Alice's precognition and my shield. A part of me hoped it would be soon. I knew the fight was inevitable, and the anxiety of waiting for it to come to us was not a comforting way to spend eternity. At the same time I hoped it would take them centuries to come for us. I was not ready to have my eternity with Edward and the rest of my beloved family come to an end. I knew that it would not be possible for all of us to survive. I did not like thinking about spending an eternity without any member of my loved ones. Of course it was possible they would never find a way around Alice and I. My shield had certainly only grown stronger over the last five decades. I could now push it out in a radius of about 200 miles. And I could also push it away from myself with nearly no effort, thought it wasn't often that Edward could talk me into letting him into my mind. It still wouldn't prevent a physical attack, but that was why I continued to train with Emmett, Jasper and any willing visitor. I would be strong enough to keep myself alive long enough to save my family.

"Excellent" Emmett laughed, and I heard Edward growl from Carlisle's office. I rolled my eyes at that. Some things would never change.


	3. The Center of Our Universe

**The Center of Our Universe**

**Disclaimer-all characters are still the property of my hero, Stephanie Meyer**

Renesmee and Jacob arrived home just as dawn was breaking over the horizon. Edward and I were lying in our unnecessary bed, just talking quietly. We were considering going back to our little cottage in Forks, which was still standing, a fact that still made Emmett snicker whenever the subject came up. We needed some kind of back-up plan if Alice persisted with this absurd plan of hers. I hear our daughter and my best friend miles before they reached they house. I was more attuned to the sound of her heartbeat than any other sound in the world. I would register it the minute she was within the long range of my ears. I chuckled to myself, as I rmember Edward had once said something along those lines about my own heartbeat. "What's so funny, love?" he asked, stroking a finger across my cheekbone. "Nothing," I smiled at him, kissing him softly. "Let's go greet our daughter"

We were dressed in less than a minute, and downstairs waiting for her only seconds later. Renesmee ran right into Edwards waiting arms, the minute she burst through the front doors, and Jacob was right behind her, engulffing me in one of his bone-crushing hugs. Nessie reached over to place her hand on my cheek, which was still her preferred way of communicating. It was most assuredly the fastest way for her to communicate with me and Edward. All she had to do was show me what she wanted me to know, and Edward could pick it out of her head as she did so. I reached over and pulled her out of Edwards arms, holding her tight. "I missed you too, baby." I replied. She hugged me tighter and I stroked her hair, finally feeling whole, now that I had my daughter back in my arms.

Leah and the rest of the wolves must have heard Jacob return, or possibly smelled him, because they all howled at once, welcoming him home. Within minutes they trampeled into the house in various states of undress. Seth was the first to run in, and he bypassed his Alpha entirely, to pull Renesmee into a hug. Jacob growled and Seth only hugged her tighter. Renesmee pushed him away, laughing her pealing bell laugh. "Can't breath, Uncle Seth," she laughed again, glowing with the joy that came with being home. Embry was right behind him, followed by Sam and Leah. They were all laughing as they greeted each other with hugs, and passed Renesmee and Jake between them. Renesmee belonged to the wolves, as much as she belonged to the vampires. It was truly a blessing, really. Leah was the only one of us who really viewed us as seperate entities, as the vampires and the werewolves. To the rest of us were simply one very large, very different, family and our species was an insignificant little detail.

The rest of the family was trickling in, returning from their various hunting trips. "I thought I smelled my favorite niece," Emmett boomed as he ran into the house, not bothering to slow down in any way as he gathered her up in his arms and spun her around. "I'm your only niece, Uncle Em," she grinned at him and pulled on one of his curls. "Now put me down before Aunt Rose rips your arms off." Rosalie was glaring at him, obviously unhappy that he had won the race to Renesmee. Emmett just shook his head, and Nessie could only smile at her favorite aunt, tenderly placing her hand against Rose's cheek. Showing her, I'm sure, just how much she had missed her, along with every detail of their visit to the Amazons, just as she'd shown Edward and I.

Rosalie and Renesmee's bond had only gown with the years. Once things had settled down, Edward and I had gotten around to naming her Nessie's Godmother, and Seth her Godfather. There had been a brief period during the months that Renesmee was a teenager when I had been jealous of that bond, that Rosalie had known my daughter before I had, had been able to feed her and comfort her during the first days of her life, while I had burned. After realizing what was really to blame for my sudden antagonism toward her aunt, Renesmee, after she was finished laughing at me, had assured me that she had loved me first, from the very moment of awareness, from that first little nudge. It still amazed me that Nessie could remember every second of her life, from that first nudge, but it shouldn't have. She was half-vampire after all, and her memory was as infallible as any of ours. It had annoyed Edward and I to no end, when we realized that she had always been aware of Jacob's imprinting, and had been _happy_ about it, because as he had been hers since the first minute he had laid eyes on her, so she had been his from the first time she had heard his voice, from inside my womb.

Esme and Carlisle were the next to arrive home, and Renesmee ran into her Grandmothers arms before they were even in the door. The all laughed happily, and Carlisle placed his arms around them both, placing his cheek against the top of her bronze curls. Our family never felt quite whole when Renesmee was away from us. She was out heart, the center of our collective universe. There was not one of us who could survive her loss.

Alice and Jasper were the last to trickle in, followed by Kate and Garrett, a few minutes after Carlisle and Esme. Edward and I tried to head Alice off, but she would have none of it. She simply glared at us as she danced over towards her niece, who was already regaling her favorite uncle with tales of her travels. Jasper smiled down at her, and tugged on one of her curls, the room flooded with his love for Nessie.

The bond they had formed between them had surprised us all. Jasper, who usually kept himself as disconnected from the rest of the family as he could, had found a kindred spirit in Renesmee. He had taught her to play guitar and together they planned all sorts of attacks on Emmett. His bond with Nessie had enabled him to grow closer to the rest of us, as well, and now the memories of a time when he was not an integral part of our family seemed almost surreal. It was no longer only Alice that held him to us.

Once everyone was satisfied with their greetings, we all drifted off towards our seperate pursuits. As I cuddle with Edward on the couch, playing with his hair as he hummed my lullaby, I kept a close eye on Alice. She was speculatively eyeing Jake, where he stood talking with Renesmee and Leah. I knew the minute she decided to approach them, as her face went blank and I could tell she was looking to the immediate future, to see if I had any plans to interfere with her. She started moving towards where they stood, and I was across the room before she had a chance to open her mouth. I stood between them, glaring down at her. "Not now, Alice. Let them enjoy being home before you start your harrassment." She glared at me and Renesmee placed her hand against my cheek, wanting to know why I was fighting with my favorite sister. Jake was more overt about it. "What's she up to now?" he asked, uneasy. He was right to be uneasy. Alice and I rarely argued, but when we did it was usually had to do with me attempting to prevent her from doing something that would unnecessarily complicate my daughters life. And what complicated Renesmee's life, complicated Jacob's. I smiled at the suspicion in his voice, and decided that we might as well just get this out of the way now. "Alright," I told her, "Go ahead and ask them."

Alice smiled sweetly up at Jake and Nessie and my own smile only grew as I saw Jacob tuck Renesmee against his side, glowering down at Alice, not at all fooled. "Well you're Uncle and I were thinking-" Jasper interrupted her. "Leave me out of this," he snarled. Alice rolled her eyes. "Fine, then. I was thinking that it was time we moved on. Rejoined the world. I've found this quaint little town in Massachusets that is perfect for us, and I've already found the perfect house and everything is all set up. You guys just have to say yes, and then we are good to go!" Alice beamed at them, and Jake raised a bushy eyebrow. "Rejoin society, huh? I thought we agreed that there was no way for all of us to live in the open without raising suspicion?" he asked. Alice sighed, and ran through her plan with him. Jacob's eyes were incredulous, but Renesmee. Renesmee looked intriguied. I stifled a gasp of horror. I had been counting on my daughter to agree with me. If she agreed to this insanity, we were all lost.

Alice finished on a smug note. She had seen Renesmee's acceptance in her eyes, and knew that it was only a matter of time now. Renesmee was now looking at Jacob with pleading eyes. "It could work," she was whispering, "and wouldn't it be nice to go somewhere new. I'm sick of Alaska too," and as she looked at Jake with my big brown eyes, I knew we were all lost. "Sure, sure" he sighed, and glared at Alice over the top of Nessie's head.


	4. La Tua Cantante

**La Tua Cantante**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own anything. Stephanie Meyer owns it all. But someday, when my plans of world domination finally succeed…well we'll just see.**

**Authors Note: Thanks to all of my reviewers! I just wrote the first chapter on a whim, to kill time while I was in class, and its you guys that keeps me going! **

**Renesmee's POV**

We were all sitting in the cafeteria, minding our own business, and talking quietly amongst ourselves when it happened. A gust of wind blew in and the scent of human blood hit. Not just any human blood either, it was the most magnificent, most yummy, smelling blood I had ever come across. There really were no words to describe it. All I knew was that I had to have it. My eyes followed the scent to a small girl, she couldn't have been more than a freshman, standing by the door, looking around the cafeteria. It didn't matter to me that she had family and friends who would grieve for her. I didn't care that I would be ending her short life before it really began. The only thing I could think about was that I was thirsty, and I _had_ to have her blood. I didn't even realize I was getting up until I felt unmovable stone hands clamp my arms down against my sides, and heard my father hiss at me, "Quit breathing." I did as he told me, and for a brief second I could think again. I couldn't go without breathing indefinitely, I still needed the oxygen to keep my heat beating, but I could go without it long enough not to survive the rest of the lunch period without killing this girl.

"What's going on?" My mother asked, looking concerned. "La Tua Cantante." My father asked, and my vampire family all nodded their heads, murmuring their sympathies. But my husband and no idea what they were talking about, and neither did I, really. "What's that?" Jake asked as he reached for my hand. "The Volturi have a name for it, when a humans blood smells to a vampire they way that girls blood smells to Renesmee, the way Bella's blood smelled to me. They call it La Tua Cantante, because their blood sings to us." My father asked him. My mother's blood had smelled like this to him? I couldn't imagine that. How had he not killed her. I asked him as much. "If mom's blood smelled like this to you, how did you control yourself? Why is she still alive?".

"It was very difficult," my father answered, still not releasing his grip on my arms. "I almost killed her that first day, but somehow I controlled myself long enough to leave town. After that I spent a lot of time not breathing. It wasn't till I realized that I loved her, that killing her would destroy me, that I became confident enough in my control to know I wouldn't kill her." He answered. My mother smiled up at him. "Mind over matter," she said softly.

"Well, I don't think Nessie is going to be falling in love with this girl. We're going to have to leave immediately." Jake said, squeezing my hand. Aunt Alice nodded. "Of course. I had some alternate housing chosen for us in case things didn't work out here." I felt horrible. She looked so disappointed. My family shouldn't have to uproot their lives again so soon, just because I couldn't control myself. "No." I said. "I will learn to control myself. Besides, the girl can't be older than a freshman. I doubt I'll be seeing her very much." I would just avoid the cafeteria during the lunch period. Alice shook her head. "I'm not sure that's a good idea sweetie. I can't see your future. I can't be sure that you won't kill her. When this happened to your father, I at least could see that there was a fifty/fifty chance that he wouldn't harm her. With you, I can see nothing. We simply can't take that kind of risk." My family was all nodding their heads in agreement. "We'll have to come up with some kind of story. We've only been here a week. Its going to seem very strange, us all disappearing at once." Uncle Jasper said.

"No." I said again, almost yelling it this time. The others all stared at me. "We've just gotten settled here. I like this town. I don't want to leave. I will not kill this girl. And besides, Uncle Quil and Aunt Clair don't need to be moving around so much. We _will _stay here. I'll just stay out of school. Maybe we could spread the word that I've been sent to a boarding school of some kind, and that I'll only be home on weekends." My mother was shaking her head, but my aunts and uncles were all nodding slowly, considering my idea. I had no idea what my father's reaction was. He was still gripping my arms tightly, as I'm sure he would be until lunch was over and the girl was safely out of sight. As if I couldn't follow her scent to wherever she was. He gripped my arms tighter as he heard my thoughts, and I sighed. _Overprotective fool_. I told him. "It's only because I love you. I won't let you do something you'll regret for the rest of eternity." He responded.

The bell rang. "We'll finish this discussion tonight, when everyone can have their say." My father said, releasing me once he was sure the girl was out of sight. I saw Jake look at him, and watched my father nod slowly, trying to be sneaky I was sure. Jake grabbed my hand and pulled me in the opposite direction of the girl, towards the schools parking lot. I was sure my father had given him orders to take me out hunting, as far away from the human world as possible. But this was good. I would get a chance to talk to the others before anyone else. We would be staying.


	5. That Vile Human Girl

Title

**That Vile Human Girl**

Disclaimer-All are the wonderful products of the even more wonderful Stephanie Meyer's imagination. Yay her!

AN-I have no idea if Fir Ridge is a legitimate place or not. I just made the name up off the top of my head.

**Renesmee POV**

After our hunt Jacob and I called Carlisle, Kate, Garrett and all of the wolves back to the main house, to inform them of the situation. My master plan to convince everyone that we should stay before my mother and father could intervene fell through; Grandma and Grandpa refused to discuss it without the whole family present. I was irritated to say the least. Five minutes after the final bell rang, my family was pulling into the driveway. I sat at the dining room table running through my arguments for the third time, making sure that I hadn't forgotten anything. Not that it would do much good, my father would have already prepared counter-arguments. Stupid mind reading…I let that thought trail off as he entered the dining room with my mother. They smiled at me; I kept my expression blank.

My aunts and uncles trailed in after them, and I sighed. They all wore the same determined expression. Of course they would have all decided upon leaving as soon as I was out of hearing range. If it had been anyone other than me it wouldn't have even been an issue, but they were all just so ridiculously over protective of me. It annoyed me to no end. I wasn't a child, and I was perfectly capable of controlling myself. I wasn't Uncle Jasper after all. My father shot me a reproving look, but I was too angry to feel guilty about having any uncharitable thoughts about my favorite uncle.

"I'm not leaving," I said as soon as everyone was situated. I hated the fact that I sounded like a petulant child, but there was really nothing I could do about it. "Ness-" my father began, but I interrupted him "There's absolutely no reason to do so. Leaving isn't our only option. As I've already pointed out, I don't _have_ to go to school. We can simply spread the word that I've been accepted at some boarding school in New Hampshire, and I'll stay out of sight during the week. This is the perfect place for us. We could stay here for at least ten years, it would be beyond absurd to waste this chance."

I finished my argument and could see from the subtle change in expression that I had at least managed to convince Kate, Garrett, Emmett and Alice. Jacob would do what I wanted, and my werewolf relatives would go along with whatever he decided. Mom, Grandma and Grandpa would do whatever my father wanted. I looked at my father pleadingly. "Please, daddy," I asked softly, reaching across the table to place my hand against his cheek. _**I need to do this. If I run away now I'm not sure I'll ever feel comfortable around humans again**_. And that was true. If I couldn't know for sure that I could stop myself from killing this girl, no matter how potent her blood, how would I ever be able to trust myself around humans again. What was to stop me from losing control with some other unfortunate person.

"Fine." He answered finally, obviously deciding that there was no lie to my thoughts. "But you'll tell us immediately if this gets too hard for you. I won't allow you to suffer." I beamed at him, and ran around the table to throw myself into his arms and kiss his cheek in thanks.

Bella's POV

I was going to kill her. I was going to rip her scrawny arms off and beat her to death with them. If she touched him one more time…Edward must have sensed my anger, or maybe he just needed something to do with his hands before he killed her himself, because he reached across the aisle to squeeze my hand gently. I hated the fact that I was at that very moment sharing my shield with the vile human girl, but I had no choice. It was the only way to protect Edward.

Fir Ridge High School was, for the most part, tolerable. Everything accept for Molly Parker. By the end of our first period English class, on our first day at the new school, she had decided that Edward was hers. Her thoughts about me and the rest of the women in his family were so vile, and her fantasies about him so obscene, that by the end of that first week he had been willing to beg me to use my shield on her so that he wouldn't have to spend the next 3 years suffering through it. Of course all he'd had to do was ask. I wasn't going to let him suffer, even if it meant I had to spend a part of each day feeling mildly violated.

Edward, Alice, and Renesmee had entered as freshman, while Rose, Jasper, Emmett and I had entered as sophomores. While we could just barely pass for such young ages, Jake could barely pass for a senior. It really was a bit of a relief to have him and Nessie out of range of the schools prying eyes. After it had been determined that she would not be going back to school, Jake and refused to go back as well. We had spread the rumor that he had been sent to military school, much to Edward, Jasper, Seth and Emmett's amusement. We had all managed to get most of our classes together, by convincing the school that the younger members of the Cullen and Hale families were advanced for their years. Though at the moment I almost wished we hadn't, because if I saw that girl reach over and touch Edward's hair one more time, I was likely to just rip all of her fingers off.

There was obviously something very wrong with her brain. The rest of the humans avoided us as much as possible, but Molly went out of her way to find reasons to get close to us. Like making sure she sat behind Edward in every class they shared. Where she would spend the entire period alternating between leaning across her desk to sniff at him or fingering his hair. If she had been doing it to a human, I was sure they would never have noticed. She was very sneaky about it. But Edward was not human, and the three classes we shared with her were had quickly become a kind of hell for him. I helped him as best I could, but there wasn't much we could do about it. Renesmee was happy here, and so he wouldn't let me kill her, and he refused to confront her about it, because he didn't want to cause a scene. At least I could finally appreciate all the effort he had put into not killing Mike Newton. It was really a good thing that I couldn't hear her thoughts. I didn't have the control that Edward had.


	6. This Could Be A Problem

This Could Be A Problem This Could Be A Problem

**Disclaimer-Don't own anybody but Molly. And really, who wants to claim her? Everything else belongs to the lovely Stephanie Meyer. I heart her!**

**AN-I'm pretty sure this is the penultimate chapter. Haha. I've always wanted to use that word. Sweet.**

Bella's POV

Rosalie and Alice were already waiting for me outside my English class. Edward gave us an exasperated look, but he didn't try to argue. He knew it was pointless. We realized, of course, that our behavior was beneath us. But I had to do _something_ and since killing her wasn't an acceptable option, I was reduced to more petty measures.

Alice and Rose had only become involved because Molly hadn't been satisfied with her passive-aggressive hatred of us. For the last few weeks she had been going out of her way to cause us harm. The fact that she couldn't actually do so was irrelevant, although it was funny watching her face every time she realized her scheme had failed. Still, something needed to be done about her. Just the other day she had put gum in Rosalie's hair. Of course it had frozen within seconds, and Rose had simply crushed it to dust, but it was the principle of the matter. We weren't going to let her treat us like that, even if nothing she did could actually affect us. And since we couldn't draw attention to ourselves we were forced to resort to petty, human methods of getting our payback. We would leave her alone, as soon as she stopped her assaults. If I didn't kill her first.

Today's plan was actually to the girls benefit. Alice had seen a vision of Molly tripping herself as she walked by our lunch table, so that she would fall into Edwards's lap. I had been unable to control myself and had ripped the girl's throat out. As tempting as Edward and I were to just let the vision play itself out, especially after a day like today, we knew that we couldn't expose ourselves. To avoid that outcome we had come up with a much more entertaining plan that would both satisfy my need to cause the girl some pain, and Rosalie's desire to embarrass the hell out of her.

Alice smiled at me. It was time. Molly was walking towards us and I stood up slowly, for me at least, and stretched out. She was halfway across the cafeteria by the time I had dumped my untouched lunch tray and moved into position. I slid onto Edward's lap just as she started to trip herself, so that she had nowhere to land other than the floor. As Molly fell, Rosalie, from her position across the table from Edward and I, lightly nudged her lunch tray causing the contents to fall into Molly's hair. The entire lunchroom burst into laughter.

Satisfied with our revenge Rose, Alice and I managed to contain our mirth, for the most part. I felt Edward squeeze my hand and I turned around to face him, kissing him lightly on the lips. He wasn't smiling, but his golden eyes were lit up with laughter.

"Shall we?" Rose asked and we all stood, ignoring Molly as she rushed out of the room. We walked out of the cafeteria, splitting up as soon as we were outside the large double doors. Emmett, Jasper and I had Chemistry. Alice, Rose and Edward were on their way to Spanish. Emmett was still congratulating me on my genius plan, as well as suggesting some ideas of his own, when we were dismissed and heading towards the last period PE class that all six of us shared. While Jasper and Edward tried their hardest to ignore our behavior Emmett found it amusing, even if he didn't understand it. He enjoyed watching humans, he found them amusing, but he couldn't understand why we bothered reacting to them, no matter what they did to you. As much as it killed me to admit it, he was right. Our behavior really was beneath us. But I couldn't seem to help myself. I was still young, after all, and it was a least one way of combating the tedium of high school.

Renesmee was waiting for us when we got home, almost giddy with excitement. "What's going on?" I asked her, but she didn't need to answer. As soon as I entered the living room I saw the answer for myself, in the glow of Leah's smile and the stunned expression on Sam's face. "You're pregnant?" I asked, feeling slightly giddy myself. A baby. They had been trying for the last year. Leah hadn't been sure if it would be possible, but she had stopped phasing because she had to try. Rosalie and Esme would be thrilled. Renesmee, and later Sam, had grown up to fast for them. Of course it was quite possible that Leah wouldn't want us anywhere near her child. She may not hate us anymore, but she still wasn't entirely comfortable being around us either. But she tried, for Jacob's sake, and because Sam, Quil and Clair all considered us family as well.

We congratulated them and Edward, Esme and I celebrated the rare occurrence of having our entire family, including all the wolves, all in once place by cooking an elaborate meal big enough to feed a small army. Or 6 hungry werewolves. A thought occurred to me, as I sat with Emmett, Seth, Sam and Leah playing a card game. "We should build you guys a house. You might like having your own place for a while." Leah objected immediately. "No way. We don't need a house. The one we have now is plenty big enough for all of us. Besides, it took almost a year to get the stench out of the one you built for Quil and Clair when Sam was born." I grumbled at that, but I let the subject go. I wasn't Alice after all. I could take no for an answer.

Speaking of Alice, where was she? She had gone upstairs to pick out a board game nearly five minutes ago. It shouldn't have taken more than one. As I was about to voice my question aloud I saw her coming down the stairs. Something was wrong. If the dazed look in here eyes didn't give it away, the fact that she was actually walking down the stairs, not dancing, or more accurately, prancing, was evidence enough.

"It's Molly." She answered my question before I could even ask it. I sighed. "What's she going to do this time?" I asked, irritated that this girl could annoy me even when I didn't have to be around her. "She's going to come here." Alice said, almost slowly. "There's no way to stop it. She's almost here. She's going to see Renesmee." I shrugged. I didn't see what the big deal was. It was Friday. It was perfectly acceptable for Renesmee to be home. I hadn't even finished that thought when I realized what the problem was. Renesmee wasn't at the house. She was out, hunting. With a giant werewolf.

"Oh." I said. "I see." Edward was looking at Alice, a grimace on his face. "There's nothing we can do?" he asked. She shook her head. "We'll have to catch her, before she can get to her car and cell phone. If we don't she'll expose us all." She looked up, her expression bleak. "If she reaches her phone the Volturi will come." Edward and I were out the door before she finished her sentence.


	7. Sacrifice

Sacrifice

**Sacrifice**

**AN: This will be the last chapter. I'm not sure if I'll write another one or not. I'm considering a series of one-shots featuring my favorite character, Alice, but school and work are getting pretty hectic, so we'll see what happens.**

**AN 2: Two things to clear up: Sam is Quil and Clair's son. As for how it was possible for Alice to have a vision of Molly with Nessie and Jake, Alice didn't actually "see" them. She was looking for Molly's future, as she does each night to make sure the girl wasn't planning something stupid. What she actually saw was Molly parking her car in the woods by the Cullen home, everything go black, and then she saw Molly making a call which was followed by the Volturi arriving in Fir Ridge. Alice just jumped to the logical conclusion that the blackness meant Molly had seen Jake and Nessie.**

Bella's POV

I ran faster than I had ever ran in all of my existence. As fast as Edward, even. I had no idea what we would do with Molly when we got to her. All I knew was that we would get their fast enough to catch her. There was no other option. I could smell her now and I followed the scent in a direct path, running through the trees that got in my way. Edward split away from me. He was close enough to hear her mind now and would go to her car if she, by some freak miracle, managed to get past me. A scream pierced the air. I ran faster.

The scent grew stronger and I found her in the area we had cleared out for baseball games and sunny days. She hadn't even had a chance to run. Jacob had her pinned to the ground and he was growling furiously. "Call your father." I ordered as I crouched in front of her unable to suppress my protective instincts although I knew that Molly no longer posed any threat to my family. Venom pooled and I growled furiously, lips curved up in a dangerous smile. I wanted to rip this stupid human girl limb from limb. Who did she think she was, interfering with my family, ruining the peaceful, happy existence we had finally managed to carve out for ourselves. I almost laughed as I realized that I could finally understand how Rosalie had felt when Edward had brought me into the family. No matter what we chose to do with Molly, our family would be forever changed. I wanted her dead for that.

I spent the half-second it took for Edward to reach us wondering why Alice had seen Molly reaching her car. It only too me another fraction of a second to realize that because Alice couldn't see Jacob make the decision to stop her she had only been able to see the decision Molly would have made if it had been anyone other than Jacob and Nessie she had seen.

"What are we going to do with her?" I asked Edward when he reached my side. "I have no idea," he answered, running his fingers through his hair. "Can we kill her?" Renesmee asked. Jacob and I growled our agreement. I was surprised that he was so willing to take a human life, although I shouldn't have been. I knew that Jacob would stop at nothing to keep Nessie safe. The one trait he and Edward had always shared was their total willingness to do whatever was necessary to protect us. No matter what the cost. But if Jacob killed this girl, it would change him forever and I would not lose my best friend because of this insignificant human. I would kill her myself before I allowed her to ruin my family.

"We'll take her back to the house and make the decision as a family. Renesmee you'll have to carry her back. I'm no sure either your father or I have the control necessary at the moment to not kill her." I answered for Edward. Renesmee nodded and gathered Molly in her arms, holding her as far away from her body as she possibly could. Together we ran back to the house, Jacob leading the way, Edward and I following to make sure the girl didn't do anything stupid, like try to jump. She didn't seem to be capable of coherent thought though. She just whimpered and mumbled something about monsters.

We reached the house in seconds, even running slower than normal to keep up with Nessie. Nobody had moved from their positions. Emmett, Seth, Leah and Sam still sat by the coffee table where we had been playing our card game. Alice sat at the bottom of the stairs, curled up in Jasper's lap. Rose sat with Esme and Carlisle on the couch, and she glared at Molly with a hatred I hadn't seen in here eyes since the early days of Edward and I'' relationship and she had captured my gaze from across a crowded cafeteria. Quil and Clair sat on the loveseat near the piano, holding hands, worry etched across their aging faces. Embry had met us at the door in wolf form. Once Jake had seen Nessie safely into the house he disappeared into the woods with Embry. Seconds later they returned in their human form.

"Where should I put her?" Renesmee asked, disgust wrinkling her nose. "In the ground." Rosalie suggested. Emmett snickered. I ignored her and turned to Alice. "What do you see?" I asked her. "Nothing. Renesmee and Jacob are too tied into this decision for me to see what we'll do with her." She answered. "And the Volturi?" Carlisle asked. "I can no longer see them coming for us. At least, not anytime soon." Occasionally Alice would have the odd vision of an impatient Aro making the decision to attack, but it usually disappeared within minutes after Caius and Marcus talked him out of it. Until we actually broke the law in a concrete way, they would not agree to an attack and they would not allow Aro to even instigate a covert assassination. Our coven was too closely tied with too many others for them to allow that kind of risk to their reputation. Allowing this girl to live would give them that reason.

"We have to kill her." I stated, not caring that the girl was still in the room. I had not known that I was capable of such hate, but I wanted this girl to suffer for what she was doing to my family. "But Bella," Edward began, but I stopped him by pushing my shield away and opening my mind to him, allowing him to see my resolve, as well as the reasoning behind my decision. "I see," he said, nodding. "Well that's all fine and dandy but could someone let us in on the plan." Emmett interrupted annoyed. "There is no plan," I responded. "We either kill her, or we make her one of us." At this statement all of the wolves, other than Jacob started voicing their objections, Leah the loudest of them all.

"That's nothing but pure murder." She stated. "I thought you weren't supposed to be killers. It's the only reason that we have been able to live together peacefully. If you kill this girl our family will not survive it." I smiled at her grimly. "I love you all. I don't want to lose any of you, but if doing this is the only way to keep you alive, even if you leave us, then that is a price I am willing to pay." I answered. I looked over at Jacob. His vote would be the deciding factor. While we did our best to preserve human life, us Cullens would do whatever was necessary to protect our family. Including kill. Jasper and Rosalie had been willing enough to do it to me, in the beginning. I would kill for them now. Seth and Embry would follow Jake's lead, but I wasn't sure about Leah. Sam would do whatever she wished. It was quite possible that we would lose them both, as well as Quil and Clair, no matter what decision we came to. But it was better to have them to think us soulless monsters for the rest of their lives, then to have them die because we were too weak to do what was necessary to save them.

I caught Molly's terrified gaze from where she sat on the sofa, pinned by Jasper's unshakable stone hands. I glared at her, almost surprised by the force of my hatred. In all my time as a vampire I had never really taken into account the personality changes that came with it. From the very beginning I had still felt like me, with all of my human quirks and foibles, just more durable. But the part of me that was now more animal than human, more lion than lamb, was taking over now and I found that I liked it. It felt natural. Even though I knew that my family was seeing an entirely different Bella then they were used to, I didn't feel unsure of my course at all. I was still me, this was just another aspect of my personality, one that had lain dormant until the right moment. I knew that I could kill this girl and I would not regret it. Not if it was the only way to save my family. For them, I would do anything. And I knew that it was the same for Carlisle and Edward, Alice and Jasper, Em and Rose. Even Esme would kill this girl without remorse if she felt it was necessary.

While I was having my epiphany, Jacob had come to his decision. He looked at Leah, and although his eyes were sad, his expression was grim with resolve. "It's the only way, Leah. The only way to keep us safe. To keep your children safe. If this girl lives, we will all die. The Volturi are just waiting for an excuse. You know that. If you want to leave, I understand, but the decision is made. She will die." Leah's expression was torn. She didn't want to leave her family. The idea of leaving her Alpha was causing her physical pain. You could see it in her eyes. But I knew that the idea of taking a human life was so repulsive to her that she might not ever be able to accept this decision. She took a deep breath. "I cannot be part of the taking of a human life. Sam and I will leave. For how long I don't know. But I cannot. Jake," she pleaded with him, "this goes against everything we believe in, please, don't." He just shook his head. "Any of the wolves that cannot except this decision are free to go their own way. But I will do whatever is necessary to protect Nessie."

Quil and Clair stood up. "We will go with Sam and Leah. We love you all, but our place is with them and our grandchildren." Jacob nodded. 'Of course." Leah looked at Seth and Embry, but they just shook their heads. "Our place is with our Alpha, sis. If this is what is necessary to protect our pack, then it is a price we are willing to pay. I remember a time when you were willing to make the same sacrifice." Seth inclined his head in my direction. Leah looked thoughtful now, pondering. "I didn't think of it like that. In terms of protecting the pack. I guess I'm still prejudiced after all these years, because all I could see was that the leeches were going to murder an innocent to save their own hides. But of course they're saving ours too. You cannot abandon them to face death at the hands of those Italian bloodsuckers, and we cannot abandon you. Our lives will always be tied to theirs, won't they?" Jacob simply nodded. "I knew that," she continued, "but I guess I still haven't come to terms with it. I still need to leave for a while Jake. There are some things I need to think about, and I can't do that here. But we'll be back."

They said their farewells, and when they were gone the vampires and the remaining werewolves moved into the dining room. A decision still had to be made. We left Molly in the living room. She only tried to run once. When Alice had grabbed her before she'd even had a chance to take two steps away from the couch, she'd seen that any more effort would be futile. She was now curled up in a ball in the corner, shaking with the knowledge of her death. The human in me actually felt guilty, but that aspect of my personality was no longer in control. For the most part, I was indifferent to her pain.

In the end we waited for her to cry herself to sleep and Jasper quickly snapped her neck. None of us had been able to accept the idea of spending eternity with her. We burned the body, and Emmett disposed of her car. I'm not entirely sure about what he did with it, but from the odd scraps of metal we found I believe that he simply crushed it into pieces.

Jake, Nessie, Seth and Embry had left before we had done it. While they accepted the decision, they didn't want to see the end result. They preferred not to think of it at all. They had gone to Ireland, to visit Siobhan. They were due back any day now.

Once it was over, once I had calmed down long enough for the monster in me to be pushed back, I was racked with guilt. We all suffered from it, in little ways, but this was not the first time the others had been forced into such measures. Edward suffered with me, but after a few months I found that I rarely thought of it. Our family continued on, not the same-we were heartless, and the wolves would forever be changed now that they knew themselves capable of taking a human life-but we were happy and content in our lives and our love for each other. We did leave Fir Ridge, after an acceptable amount of time had passed, and now we were living in Oregon. We were happy here, and all of the humans kept a sane distance away from us. It was a beautiful place. Leah would be back before the babies were born. She had an epiphany of her own. She found that she wasn't any happier away from us then she had been with us. And besides, she didn't trust anyone other than Carlisle to deliver the twins.

As I watched the sun set from the balcony of mine and Edwards's bedroom, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist, my head pressed against his chest, I couldn't find any regret in me at all. I had taken my first human life, if only indirectly, but it had been worth it. I loved them more than anything, more than my own life, and I knew that they felt the same way. It was what separated us from the real monsters, that love we had for each other. Even if we couldn't regret it, we didn't take Molly's death lightly. We saw it as what it was, nothing less than a necessary sacrifice.


End file.
